POLITICS CORNER

[Stanley]

Is there no end to the trail of wreckage Johnson left after him?
Looking at BBC Politics there is a sudden flurry of news reports when for the last few weeks you'd hardly have thight there was a Parliament sitting.
Top of today's list is THIS.
"Tory London mayoral hopeful Daniel Korski has pulled out of the contest, after being accused of groping by novelist and TV producer Daisy Goodwin. Mr Korski said he "categorically" denied the allegation against him. But he said he was withdrawing from the race because the pressure on his family and the "inability to get a hearing" for his message "makes it impossible for my campaign to carry on"."
I have some sympathy with his accuser who said:
Reacting to Mr Korski quitting the contest, Ms Goodwin said: "I am glad he has withdrawn - it shows that women can speak out against misbehaviour in the workplace and be believed. "If I was in the ethics department of the Cabinet Office, I would be wondering why such behaviour went unchecked in Downing Street."
She complained at the time but was ignored. Overall, the news that comes out of Number 10 these days makes me wonder what level of management and discipline there was in there.

[plaques]

Is there no end to the trail of wreckage Johnson left after him?

As much as I think Johnson was a disaster I can hardly blame him for the conduct of some macho contestant. Although having selected him it does throw some doubt on the attitude the Conservatives have toward the ordinary public.

[Stanley]

I associate the decline in standards in public life with Johnson and his ilk. It goes back a lot further than him of course but I'd suggest has become more blatant in the last few years.
Looking at politics this morning (LINK) I note that the Home secretary has said....
The government is committed to ending cross-Channel migrant boats despite a court ruling its Rwanda policy is unlawful. Suella Braverman told MPs she would do "whatever it takes to stop the boats." Her comments came after judges at the Court of Appeal ruled that the plan to send asylum seekers to the African country could also breach human rights. The government says it will appeal.
Sunak has backed her up as he sees one of the main planks in his campaign to regain control of his Party and the country being destroyed. Once again taxpayer's money is being paid to lawyers to carry the government's fight with the courts forwards. This is a disgrace, the voter is expected to abide by the law, the government evidently believes it is above such simple compliance with the law.
HERE'S another example of how some Conservatives regard the rules of the House.
Former ministers Nadine Dorries and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg are among 10 Tories accused of waging a co-ordinated campaign to interfere with a Commons investigation into Boris Johnson. The ex-PM quit as an MP after a committee found he misled Parliament over Covid breaches at No 10. In a new report, the committee accused the allies of Mr Johnson of mounting "vociferous attacks" on its work. But they said the committee was trying to shut down freedom of speech. The report suggested attempts to "impugn the integrity of the committee" or "lobby or intimidate" committee members could be a contempt of Parliament. Punishments can range from being forced to apologise to being suspended. However, this would need to be voted for by MPs. Former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel and serving Foreign Office Minister Lord Zac Goldsmith were also among the seven MPs and three peers identified as attacking the committee. The others were Tory MPs Mark Jenkinson, Sir Michael Fabricant, Brendan Clarke-Smith and Dame Andrea Jenkyns, and peers Lord Cruddas and Lord Greenhalgh.
Full marks to Penny Mordaunt acting in her capacity as Leader of the House for criticising her fellow MPs for attacking the Committee which was there to protect them and their privileges.
If everything was working as it should be there should be sanctions applied against those named by the Prime Minister but I think we all know that this will not happen. Once more Sunak will stay silent.

[plaques]

Sunak will do as he is told. After all he is only the Prime Minister the one chosen by the people Conservative members.

[Stanley]

It does make you wonder who is pulling the strings!



Forgive me for repeating today's cartoon but this one does encapsulate brilliantly what is going wrong at the moment. None of Sunak's 'pledges' are anywhere near being fulfilled.

[plaques]

As long as the NHS rellies on outside 'Consultancies for their plans they will continue to lose control of future planning and be subject to privatisation profiteering. Wherever possible the NHS should be bringing planning and expertise back in house and not let short termism take over.

[Tripps]

Pledges are a nuisance afterwards aren't they?
Especially ones like these -

"The Ed Stone, an 8ft 6in, two-tonne slab of limestone, with Labour’s six key election pledges carved into its surface, was designed to persuade the public that Miliband was serious about delivering on his promises in government.
“They’re carved in stone because they won’t be abandoned after the general election,” said Miliband, standing in front of the stone in a car park in Hastings. “I want the British people to remember these pledges, to remind us of these pledges, to insist on these pledges.”

edstone.jpeg

Beneath that legend, the values the monolith bore – reportedly approved by no fewer than 10 planning meetings attended by swathes of expensive public relations professionals who, quite frankly, should have known better – were as follows:
A strong economic foundation
Higher living standards for working families
An NHS with the time to care
Controls on immigration
A country where the next generation can do better than the last
Homes to buy and action on rent

[Stanley]

I remember when Cameron made his pledge about there being no limit to the compensation that would be given for being flooded (Once flooding had reached the SE) and as always I said; "That will come back to bite him!". It's always the same with promises, far better to modify them and simply state them as 'aspirations'.
See THIS report of what Justine Greening has said about her own Party's Rwanda policy.
She withdrew £21m in aid funding to the country in 2012 when she was international development secretary after the United Nations first reported that the Rwandans were helping the M23 rebels. Ms Greening told BBC Newsnight: "It's important that UK foreign policy and this country's leadership on important matters of human rights atrocities including violence against women is not downgraded as a result of our domestic policy approaches. "This UN report also underlines the practical complexity and sustainability issues of intertwining the delivery of Britain's asylum policy with any third country, particularly one facing such demonstrable wider regional stability challenges," she said.
The problem is that Sunak and Braverman have nailed their futures to the Rwandan policy and can't resile.
"Stop the boats" is going to be the Tory election slogan at the next General Election, there is no hope of any resolution before then. (And this is only one of the failed Six Pledges.)
In another part of the forest it is now clear, and has been admitted by the BofE and Jeremy Hunt that the inflation forecasts have been rubbish. This bears directly on another of Sunak's pledges, to halve inflation before the end of the year as one supposes his calculations are based on BofE data. (Or was this actually just an aspiration?)
The bottom line in our politics is that it is still all about managing the dissolution of the Tory Party and not about governing the country in the face of ongoing challenges. There is no chance of Sunak or Hunt admitting that the biggest drag on our economy is the malevolent effects of Brexit which is still not done.
I'm sorry to have to say it but to the rest of the world, UK PLC is a joke. This is what these jerks have brought us to.

[plaques]

Deportation to Rwanda is projected to cost £169,000 per head. That is more than half the price of a new house. It would be cheaper to renovate empty property and let asylum people use these free until their applications have been processed and then get them into work.

Like Johnson before him Sunak is jumping on the 'Promise' bandwagon and like Johnson his five pledges are built on quicksand. Now we have a 15 year NHS PLAN. Who in their right mind actually believes this? Fifteen years will see most of the people who need it now heading towards the promised land. So after 13 years of running the NHS down and a general election ready to wipe the Conservative Party out Sunak has come up with a PLAN.

Pull the other one.

[Stanley]

There is a basic dishonesty in government these days. I listened to Barclay responding to the doctor's statement that ministers are refusing to talk to them about wages. He denied this and said they were proposing talks but it was the doctors who were refusing to meet. What he didn't make clear was that the doctors want to talk about a wage offer but he is refusing to do this and is proposing talks on conditions of service etc. This is why the doctors are refusing to go to meetings where a wage offer is specifically excluded.
Another form of dishonesty is the repeated calumny that increasing public service wages forces inflation up. This is economic illiteracy, public service wages have no direct effect on inflation, it is private sector increases that do that. The politicians know that most of the public will accept this lie because they know no better and so they repeat it over and over again. What puzzles me is why the well educated doctors on the negotiating panel don't hammer this home and force the government to either prove the link or stop making the accusation.
See THIS BBC report. Amanda Pritchard is right to say that the latest strike threats will affect patients more than the last ones. However she should add that the doctors have said that all that is needed to stop the strikes is a wage offer from Sunak at al . It is this lack of engagement by the government that will kill vulnerable patients, not the evil machinations of the greedy doctors. That is the image the government wants to project. Time we got the truth!

[plaques]

Sunak and Conservatives before him have always relied on what J K Galbraith (economist) coined as 'The Comfortable Majority' ie: you could sanction ordinary workers into poverty but there would always be enough people above this level where their lifestyles would remain unchanged. What we are now seeing especially with interest rate rises on mortgages, food and energy prices more of the 'comfortable majority are dropping into the 'working class level. There is a gradual realisation that those home owners who are traditionally conservative voters are changing their allegiance to other political parties. Clearly any further interest rises will eat into their voting base raising the question 'who can we blame next'. They have clearly chosen the doctors and nurses and other public sector workers where they hold the purse strings in the hope that the private sector will do their dirty work for them. But herein lies the dilemma excess profits are to be encouraged so stoking up inflation while wages must be reduced causing a reduction of sales and therefore reducing profits.

The bottom line is that Sunak doesn't have an exit plan other than to make people poorer which they appear to be happy with.

[Stanley]

A very good point Ken and thanks for mentioning JKG, one of my most favourite economists of all time. Do you think that people like Osborne, truss and Sunak have any knowledge of Keynes, Galbraith, Piketty or Stiglitz?
See THIS BBC report on attitudes to Israel particularly their policies promoting new building in Palestinian lands.
Much of the debate on the issue has focused on boycotts of Israel and Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calls for broad-based economic and cultural boycotts of Israel and Israel settlements - similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.
I have long supported such movements as I believe that the Israeli government policies on this matter are unlawful and have become even worse under the new ultra right wing government. (This is why their are riots on the streets in Israel!) This does not make me anti-Semitic, quite the opposite however it does mean that I am anti-Zionist!

[PanBiker]

See THIS BBC report on attitudes to Israel particularly their policies promoting new building in Palestinian lands.

The entire Israeli State is built on Palestinian land and that is the crux of the problem. There were no riots before they stole the land.

[Stanley]

Ian, have you seen THIS? I rate John McDonnell and believe what he says.
Supporters of Sir Keir Starmer are "drunk with power" and conducting a purge of the Labour left, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said. In a BBC Newsnight interview, the veteran left-winger warned that a "right-wing faction" was weakening the party. He was speaking after figures on the left complained that they are being blocked from positions in the party. He has raised his concerns with the Labour leader in writing, warning: "If you stumble, these are the people that will come for you." The former shadow chancellor said: "What [Keir Starmer's] allowed to happen is a right-wing faction [has] become drunk with power and use devices within the party almost on a search and destroy of the left. "They seem to be more interested in destroying the presence of the left in the party than getting a Labour government." His intervention comes after aspiring MPs said they are being excluded from an approved list of parliamentary candidates drawn up by the party's National Executive Committee, Labour's governing body.
Not comforting reading for old social democrats like us! I have been getting increasingly uncomfortable with Starmer's stance and John hasn't made me feel any better.
HERE'S an interesting report from 'Verify', the BBC's reality check.
It looks at Sunak's five pledges and basically confirms what I have been suspecting for a while, none of the pledges can be said to be looking promising.
See THIS for the latest report on the Metropolitan police investigation into the 'Jingle and Mingle party. Bear in mind while you are reading it that Sunak still refuses to say whether Tory MPs accused of undermining the Commons Partygate inquiry into Boris Johnson should apologise.

[plaques]

Unfortunately Corbyn got such a bad press that in the eyes of many he was too toxic to vote into power. As we are now seeing with the water and railways privatisation was a mistake and re-nationalisation is on the cards again. This was exactly what Corbin and McDonnell had been advocating but drowned out by the right-wing press's nanny state and black holes. This was followed up by week after week of Corbyn cartoons demonising anything left-wing. Starmer appears to be trying to avoid this elephant trap by removing all vestiges of anything that smacks of Corbynism. A mistake in my view. But at the slightest hint at anything attached to Corbyn we will get an avalanche of nonsense from No10 eg; the Sue Gray telephone call. For those who follow politics there is already a visible shift in the newspaper rhetoric against Starmer this will increase like a tsunami as the general election approaches.

I'm not happy with Starmer but when the Tory propaganda machine gets into full swing the last 13 years of economic disaster will suddenly become Labour's fault.

[PanBiker]

Ian, have you seen THIS? I rate John McDonnell and believe what he says.

I have met John on number of occasions and he has always impressed me as an honest kind of bloke. Tells it like it is without any BS. Cant really ask any more of a politician.

I also agree with all comments made about Jeremy Corbyn. Similar to John Smith as the best Prime Minister we never had. The current Labour Party are terrified of socialism, they have no grasp of what it actually means! If elected I can see no prospect of radical change which is sad.

[Stanley]

Looking at THIS I despair of Labour.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer will pledge to break down class barriers to opportunity, in a speech outlining his party's plans for education reform. Sir Keir is expected to warn the "class ceiling" is stifling opportunity for too many children across the country.
Does he really think that this is the matter at the front of voters mind's?IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID!
I think you're right about the general view of socialism or, to be more accurate, democratic socialism. It carries the Daily Mail imprint of Communism. Same with state control of the essential services, this is not Daily Mail 'nationalisation'. it is lazy to describe it as such. Has nobody noticed that every time the management of a rail franchise is taken in house service improves and costs fall?
See THIS for what could be encouraging news.
BBC News understands a deal for the UK's association with the EU's €100bn (£85bn) Horizon research and innovation programme has been negotiated. The proposed arrangement is awaiting approval from the prime minister.
If Rishi Sunak agrees, an announcement is expected on Tuesday after his talks with the European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The official government position is that talks are still ongoing and that no deal has been agreed. But highly placed sources have now told BBC News that a sticking point over how much research funding the UK is expected to receive has been resolved and that two separate options for associate membership await the prime minister's consideration.
I hope the BBC are right, this delay has been damaging and we need certainty about future funding and cooperation.

[plaques]

Starmer is having 'row back' on many of the pledges he made only a few months ago. The reason given for these changes of plan are simply that the economy is getting worse by the minute and any promises to spend 'X' amount in two years time are turning to dust. If Labour's spending plans are to be fully costed against the state of the economy then expect even more adjustments.

IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID! was Bill Clinton's main thrust on his manifesto. The UK's economy is in a downward spiral heading towards junk status. Everything points towards people getting poorer with the government happy to let excessive profits and poor service go unchecked. The right-wing media is still pushing how things COULD be getting better. When a GDP growth rate of 0.0000000% is considered as encouraging then we know we are in porky land. The danger of Starmer pushing the economy at this point in the governments term of office is that by the time the election comes it will have lost its impact where we may be seeing Conservative slogans like 'Get The Economy Done'' don't let Labour spoil it.

[Stanley]

See my cartoon this morning for a pointed comment on Starmer's speech advocating teaching oracy in state schools.

See THIS BBC report for the verdict on the government's attempt to censor the material it allows to go forward to the Covid Enquiry.
The government has lost its legal challenge to prevent the Covid inquiry from seeing Boris Johnson's WhatsApps, diaries and notebooks in full. The Cabinet Office had argued it should not have to hand over irrelevant material, but inquiry chair Baroness Hallett said it should be up to her to decide what is relevant. The government has accepted the ruling. It would work towards handing over the material requested by next week, Downing Street said. "All elements of this will be discussed in more detail with the inquiry", No 10 added, describing the judgement as the "sensible" and the "appropriate way forward". The Covid inquiry said it was "pleased" with the court verdict and added that inquiry chair Baroness Hallett expected to received the material by 16:00 BST on Monday 10 July. The decision by the court is likely to strengthen the authority of the inquiry and its ability to demand evidence.
The legal opinions all pointed to this outcome but Sunak still insisted on throwing taxpayers money at the legal eagles and fighting to retain control of the material.
See THIS for another ruling, this time on Pincher MP.
Could it possibly be that when he says he is going to 'reflect' on the ruling he means stretch out his income from Parliament for as long as possible? The eight week suspension makes deselection almost automatic. Sunak has this and the Mad Nad seat hanging over him. Deep Joy!
I see that the question has been raised as to whether CofE bishops should automatically occupy 26 seats in the Lords. My opinion is that they shouldn't. It reinforces the canard that there is such a thing as an 'Established church'. Can you imagine having 26 Rabbis?

[Stanley]

THIS caught my attention this morning.... How petty can Jenrick get!
Murals of Mickey Mouse and other cartoon characters designed to welcome child asylum seekers to a reception centre in Dover have been painted over, by order of the immigration minister. Robert Jenrick instructed that they be removed, reportedly because he believed they sent too welcoming a message. The Home Office said the Kent Intake Unit (KIU) opened last November to look after unaccompanied child migrants. Facilities included softer interview rooms and an outside space, it added. There were also prayer rooms, a larger reception area and improved security measures to ensure children's safety, the Home Office said.
Yes, we have an immigration problem but don't take it out on vulnerable children.
THIS also caught my attention as another example of muddlrd thinking by a Minister.
How much to pay teachers is a "very difficult choice", a minister has said, as strikes hit schools in England for the second time this week. Robert Halfon said the government wanted to be fair to teaching staff but also "fair to the taxpayer".
It isn't a difficult choice at all. Pay the teachers a wage that reflects their importance to society, that way the parents and taxpayers will also be best served. As for where the money should come from there are plenty of less worthy budget headings, what is needed is some sensible prioritisation of spending. For instance, look at the total cock-up reported yesterday in HS2 plans for a London terminus. Vanity projects like this cannot compare in importance with the education of our children (or indeed the NHS).
The basic problem with all public service pay is that normal cost of living increases have been stifled for 13 years of austerity and now the pigeons are coming home to roost. Tory policies failing and we have to suffer.

[plaques]

Robert Jenrick. There is a streak of cruelty about Jenrick's actions. This was a purposely built facility for unaccompanied children. It would appear that Jenrick and some of fellow Conservatives have no thought about future events. These children, unless Braverman as head torturer, deports them to fulfill her dream, will grow up with negative attitude to the UK and to the Conservatives in general. This may be a vote catching move to appease a small number of xenophobic racists but is totally at odds with the rest of the population.
So what does this tell you about this Conservative governments attitude to our none white population?

[Stanley]

Exactly Ken and very well put. These thoughts often plagued me when he and his fellow rabid right-wingers were accusing Labour of being anti-Semitic.

[Stanley]

There is no political news this morning.
Yesterday I heard a political commentator from one of the broadsheets say that the reason why the Tory Party is spawning so many factions is because MPs have no official business as governance is at a standstill due to all the internal troubles in the party. This means people have more time and opportunity to worry about their chances of re-election......

[plaques]

Captain Sunak, Iceberg ahead !
"How big is it?"
Big Captain. 24 % stuck out of the water. Shall we change course?
"No. Full steam ahead."
But if we hit it that's your 100 nominations and a quarter of the membership going down with us.
"It'll probably turn into a growler by the time we get there. Full steam ahead."

[Stanley]

Have a look at THIS then ask yourself what's the point of having an independent pay review mechanism?
Treasury minister Victoria Atkins has refused to say if the government will follow its pay review bodies' advice on salary rises for public sector workers. Speaking to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, she said other ministers were considering the recommendations and would make a decision in "due course". The pay review bodies provide advice on workers' salaries including doctors, teachers and the police. The guidance is not legally binding and ministers can ignore the advice. Below-inflation pay rises have led to strikes across the public sector hitting schools and hospitals. The BBC understands that at least two pay review bodies are recommending increases below the rate of inflation - but higher than last year's awards. Currently inflation - the rate at which prices are rising - stands at 8.7% but food inflation on items such as bread and chocolate stands at 18.3%.
Other matters that are claiming attention are the identity of the BBC presenter accused of wrongdoing and denials of any split in the SNP Westminster group. None of these can be described as essential to the governance of UK PLC. You have to wonder what the 'government' is doing at the moment beyond looking after it's own Party interests.